In the age of social media, accuracy has been taking a back seat to speed more and more. It's one thing when you rush to report something like a free agent transaction, a trade, or another player personnel move, but when you delve into the world of injuries and deaths, maybe reporters should take a minute to fully source their reports a little more.
Enter Howard Eskin, the Philly-area radio host that makes a job out of infuriating people. On Thursday night, Eskin reported that former Philadelphia Phillies manager Jim Fregosi had died following a stroke earlier this week.
Former Manager Jim Fregosi dies at 71. Had suffered a massive stroke while on a cruise is last 36 hours.
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 14, 2014
The only thing was that Fregosi wasn't dead yet – he had simply been removed from life support, which Eskin noted 28 minutes later.
Former manager Jim Fregosi has been taken off support, but has not died. Info I got was pre mature and I apologize. He hangs on but very bad
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 14, 2014
Fregosi did end up passing away on Friday morning, over seven hours after Eskin's original report. How irresponsible is it to screw something up so badly, and then start shooting out tweets before the night is even out about the cover of the SI swimsuit issue? C'mon man, show some tact and maybe a little journalistic integrity.
[Poynter]
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